


Say You'll Remember Me

by Incaptainswanwetrust



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: CS AU, F/M, cs fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:30:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incaptainswanwetrust/pseuds/Incaptainswanwetrust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She looked straight into his eyes, “Promise we’ll stay friends?”<br/>He gave her the most serious face a seven year old could make. “Promise.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say You'll Remember Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skypeopleandswans](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=skypeopleandswans).



> Hi- thanks for reading! This fic is dedicated to skypeopleandswans, a wonderful & lovely cutie pie whose birthday was today!! Thanks again for stopping by! More fics are heading your way. They'll be posted on here or on tumblr, so make sure you're following me (URL: incaptainswanwetrust)! If you're on Tumblr, the askbox is open for prompts!

_Say you'll remember me_   
_Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe_   
_Red lips and rosy cheeks_   
_Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams_

He had unruly black hair, the bluest eyes, and the quietest voice. She was small for her age, pretty blonde waves, and the quietest voice. From the moment they met in kindergarten, they were what some might call _kindred spirits_. They didn’t speak very much to other people, but to one another- they wouldn’t stop talking. Her eyes would twinkle at the little jokes he would make. He couldn’t help but grin when she would get fussy because of his teasing. They understood one another in a way no one else could; not his brother, not her fellow group home members.

The little boy and little girl were growing up and starting to face the harsh realities of this world, but they still had one another. They made sure to get to school early every first day of school so that they could sit next to one another. One day, the little girl didn’t show up to school, worrying the little boy. He knew that she hated for him to go to the group home, for she was embarrassed that she didn’t have a home like he did. Right now, he didn’t care- he wanted to know that she was okay. When he got to the group home, he saw her standing with a man and a woman. “Emma!” he cried out. She turned around, clinging onto her teddy bear, and ran towards him.

“Killian! What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t come to school today, and I got worried. You never get sick, remember?” The two shared a laugh because it was true; she never got sick and poor Killian always seemed to catch whatever bug was going around.

“Killian, I’m getting a family!” She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling in the way that he thought only he could get them to twinkle. His heart and his stomach felt weird, hearing her say that. “They live on the other side of the city! They said that I’ll get my own room and that maybe we can have a pet!!”

“The other side of the city?” He couldn’t help, but only focus on that part.

Immediately, her whole face dropped. “Yes,” she said sadly. “That’s the only bad part- I won’t be in the same school with you anymore.” Tears started to run down her face and he couldn’t help but wipe them away. He never liked seeing her upset, and even more so-crying.

“Don’t cry, Emma! It’s okay that we won’t be in the same school- maybe I’ll finally learn how to do math!” He tried to make her laugh, anything to get her to stop looking so sad.

She looked straight into his eyes, “Promise we’ll stay friends?”

He gave her the most serious face a seven year old could make. “Promise.”

The tall lady and man came forward and told Emma that it was time to go. She gave Killian the biggest hug she could. He tried to remember everything about that moment. As she walked away, she smiled through the tears, “Say you’ll remember me?”

“Yes,” he whispered and vowed to himself- he would never forget.

A couple months passed and Killian’s made some new friends and joined the grade’s soccer team. He still misses her every day, but he once got a card from her- that’s enough to hold him for now. After school one day while he’s waiting for Liam, he thinks he sees her in the principal office. He walks by the door to see if it’s really her, but it’s hard to tell because the girl’s head is down. He waits anxiously by the door for the meeting to end and when the door opens, he sees her. “Emma!” She runs to him, but before she can hug him, she stops and looks at the floor. He pokes her shoulder to make her look up. “They didn’t want me,” she cries. He immediately wraps his arms around her. He wanted her to come back, but not like this.

Time passes and Emma and Killian have fallen back into their old routine. Boys and girls start to not want to hang out, but not these two. Liam teases Killian for having a girl best friend, but Killian doesn’t care. Emma’s the coolest and Liam can go suck it.

It’s the night before the start of sixth grade when reality comes crashing down on these two. Killian finds Emma crying at his doorstep and immediately, his heart and stomach hurt- the same way they did years ago. _No, no no- I can’t lose her._

She confirms his fear. She’s moving again- trying with a new family, on another part of town. She leaves tomorrow, but she just found out today. She’s scared that this family won’t want her and will send her back. She’s scared to leave Killian. He sits down next to her and she lays her head on his shoulder. He can’t tell her not to cry when all he really wants to do is cry. He promises her that they will stay friends and tells her that now that she’s not going to be with him at school, he’ll have to pay attention more in science class. It’s getting late and she needs to get back to the group home. As she’s getting ready to leave, she looks at him as if he’s trying to remember everything about him. “Say you’ll remember me?”

“Yes.” Just like many years ago, he whispers and makes the same vow to himself.

Four years go by and Killian can’t believe he’s a sophomore. Things are going good: he’s on the junior varsity soccer team, he’s learning how to play guitar, and he’s pretty popular with the ladies (thanks to the guitar more than the soccer). The only thing missing that would make things complete is Emma. He’s finishing up from practice, once again waiting for Liam to finish his varsity practice, when he sees a girl looking at the sign advertising the homecoming dance. She looks familiar, and quite attractive, if he’s being honest with himself. He walks over and coughs to get her attention. She turns around, and he’s stunned. “Emma?”

“Killian?” She says shyly, with a small grin starting to form on her face.

“What are you doing here?” He can’t believe she’s right here. They write letters to one another back and forth, but she’s never mentioned the possibility of being back. “Did your family move back to this area?”

Immediately that question reminds her of the reality of her situation. Her smile leaves her face and her shoulders fall dejectedly. “It didn’t work out again. They found out they were having a baby and who wants a teenager when they can have a baby, right?”

He knew she didn’t want pity, but he couldn’t help but pull her into a hug. After all these years, she still felt the same. Every detail he remembered about her from their last hug was still there. She cried in his arms and all he could think was that he wanted her back, but not like this.

It took some time, but Emma slowly adjusted to the new school. She joined the book club and journalism club and made some friends of her own. She missed Killian terribly while she was gone, but she couldn’t help but ask herself if she fit in Killian’s life anymore. She saw the way girls looked at him, like he was something they wanted to eat, and she definitely didn’t like it. She saw the way those girls looked at her when they saw the two of them together. _Was he looking at those girls in the same way?_ She didn’t want to check because she was afraid what the answer would be. She longed for the days where it was just her and Killian, sharing their sandwiches and their secrets.

One month before their senior prom, Emma was sitting at her desk, having arrived to class a little early. She couldn’t help but overhear the girls behind her whispering about prom and who was taking who. At this point, no one had asked Emma to prom and she wasn’t even sure if she was asked how she could afford to buy a dress. Her stomach dropped when she heard one of the popular girls in her class, Ashley, tell her friends (screeching nonetheless) that she was pretty sure Killian Jones was going to ask her to prom.

It was no surprise that her best friend, who happened to also be the star athlete and a budding musician at the coffeehouse would take the prettiest girl as his date. Over the years, Emma and Killian remained best friends, but free time to just relax dwindles as you get older. They weren’t always in the same classes, and sometimes Killian would sit with the team during lunch than her. It was to be expected, but hearing this girl talking about Killian taking her to the prom, hurt a lot more than she thought it would.

The days passed and Emma waited to either hear from Killian or from one of her classmates about whom he was taking to prom. Finally one day, she couldn’t help but ask him who was taking to prom. He smiled and said, “I haven’t asked her yet.” She tried teasing him into tell her who, but he kept his mouth shut. While she was annoyed that she didn’t get him to tell her, she couldn’t help but smile at how when she teased him, he reverted back into that quiet little boy she first became friends with.

That following Saturday, Killian found himself at the group home waiting for Emma to come down. When she did, she noticed that he looked upset. Rushing over to him, she noticed that it looked like he had been crying. “Killian, what’s wrong,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “Liam’s moving us back to Ireland once school is over.” A year ago, Killian’s father moved back to Ireland, but she never expected that Liam would want to move as well, especially since he grew up here for most of his life.

“Liam’s been offered a prestigious job with the navy back home and I’ve been accepted to the academy there for a full ride.” His heart and stomach hurt much in the same way as it did years ago, but this time the difference was that he would be leaving her. She fell into his arms and he laid his head in the crook of her shoulder, relishing in how perfectly they fit together. Tears started streaming down her face- she knew realistically they wouldn’t be going to college together, but that didn’t mean she was ready to face reality.

He pulled away and looked at her seriously, “Please go to prom with me.” She gasped, not expecting that to come from his mouth. “I had this whole plan of how I wanted to ask you, but I kept chickening out that maybe you didn’t want to go, or maybe you didn’t want to go with me. I know this might be selfish, but please, Emma. If I’m going to leave for Ireland right after school ends, I want to go to prom with you. I want one of my last memories of high school to be with you. I’ve always wanted it to be with you, but even more so now.”

She cupped his face in her hands. Her heart broke seeing the man before her revert back to the quiet, vulnerable little boy. “Of course, I will go with you.”

He started to apologize that this wasn’t the way he wanted to ask her and that he had this grand gesture, but she placed her fingers on his lips. She didn’t need any of that.

The day before prom, Killian surprised her with a beautiful red dress. He had used the money he made playing at the coffeehouse and he couldn’t imagine spending it in a better way. It was the perfect dress- it had a sweetheart neckline, it flowed in such an elegant manner that only silk can, and it looked to be exactly her size. She squealed when she opened the box and tackled Killian with the tightest hug she could muster. In return, he laughed and gave her a kiss on the forehead, beaming with pride that he made her that happy.

The night of the prom, he felt like the luckiest guy alive. Emma was a vision. She looked absolutely gorgeous in the dress, and he got to hold her in his arms all night long. As he danced with her and made her laugh, he saw glimpses of the little girl he became best friends with. He told her multiple times she looked beautiful, causing her to blush, which delighted him all night. She looked beautiful against the sunset and later on, the stars, and he memorized every moment of that night, so that he could relive and remember it later.

The day after graduation, the two found themselves at Killian’s doorstep once again. His flight with Liam to Ireland was later that evening, but it felt like time was moving too fast. He didn’t have enough time with her; fourteen years wasn’t enough. He could spend a lifetime with her by his side and it still wouldn’t be enough. He held her to his chest as they sat, neither knowing what to say.

“You’ll take care of yourself, right?” She asked quietly.

“Yes, I promise. Maybe now that I’ll be in Ireland for good, I’ll get a sexy accent,” he tried joking.

She sat up to face him, and he gently held her face, as if it were made of glass. “Why do we keep having to do this,” he cried. She didn’t have an answer for him because she was thinking the same exact thing.

They held onto one another for as long as they could, but finally it was time for Killian to head to the airport. He leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, but he couldn’t help himself from getting lost in it. She responded by trying to pour all the love and all the happiness he had given her into that kiss. He pulled away and saw her eyes twinkling; she knew what he was trying to say with that kiss. Before he could go, she grabbed his arm to pull him back to face her, “Say you’ll remember me?”

He could never forget her, no matter how long he was away from her. That’s why he could never understand how those families could send her back. They left her by choice, whereas he was always waiting for her to come back. “Yes,” he whispered and vowed to himself that not only would he never forget her; he would come back for her.

They came back together and this time it would be for good. Never again would she be left behind or sent back and never again would he have to wait for her to return. Not only did Killian keep his promise, the one he started back as a child, that he would never forget her, but he made it once more. This time at a much more joyous occasion: their wedding.


End file.
